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3100 BCE
Ancient Egyptians (3100 BCE - 332 BCE)
The ancient Egyptians made great strides in mathematics. They were more interested in practical mathematics than theoretical. They had an additive number system (with no place value), and they preferred to work with unit fractions. They used a coordinate system to subdivide and track ownership of land (also used by Romans and Greeks). They used mathematics to help track patterns of the seasons for farming purposes. They also had an ingenious way of calculating volume by taking cross-sections. -
2490 BCE
Pyramids at Giza Built
Construction began on the three pyramids at Giza in Egypt between 2550 BCE and 2490 BCE. (10) -
1900 BCE
Old Babylonian Period (1900 BCE - 1600 BCE)
The Old Babylonian Period typically refers to an area of present-day Iraq that includes many empires. Like the Egyptians, the Babylonians were mostly interested in practical math. They recorded information on clay tablets, which survived much better than the Egyptian papyrus material. The Babylonians used a place-value number systems based on multiples of 60. It is because of this that we still use 60 seconds in a minute, 60 seconds in an hour, and 360 degrees in a circle. (5) -
1650 BCE
Egyptian Rhind Papyrus
The most important surviving Egyptian mathematical document is called the Rhind Papyrus. It was named after its discoverer, A. Henry Rhind in the 19th century. It included tables used for computation and problems likely used as training. It also included the method of solving linear equations with the false position. (1) -
776 BCE
First Olympic Games Held
The very first Olympic games were held in Greece. (12) -
600 BCE
The Greek Empire (600 BCE - 400 CE)
Greek mathematicians are credited with inventing the concept of "proof." They were generally interested in theoretical mathematics and the concept of Geometry rather than concrete numbers. Geometry was considered much more rigorous and more highly regarded than Algebra. -
551 BCE
Confucius is Born
The Chinese philosopher Confucius was born. (13) -
500 BCE
Pythagorean Brotherhood Established (c. 500 BCE)
Pythagoras, born around 570 BCE was one of the earliest Greek philosophers and mathematicians. However, it is debated to what level Pythagoras practiced mathematics. He did, however, establish an academy in present-day Italy. This led to the formation of a secret society or known as the Pythagorean Brotherhood (including women). Many of the concepts that are attributed to Pythagoras were not in fact discovered by him, but rather attributed to him through the Pythagoreans that came after him. (8) -
387 BCE
Plato founds "The Academy"
Plato is known as one of the most famous Greek mathematicians. He founded "The Academy" in 387 BCE, which likely included the study of mathematics. Plato considered mathematics the bedrock of knowledge. He concluded that all solids could fit into one of five categories, known as the Platonic Solids. (7) -
300 BCE
Euclid Writes the "Elements"
Euclid was one of the most influential mathematicians of all time. He was Greek but did a lot of his work in Alexandria in Egypt. He published a series of books proving various mathematical concepts. He started with certain assumptions and then used them to prove other things. Euclid's "Elements" set an example for how to use clear and concise arguments of proof. It was studied throughout history and is still studied today. -
210 BCE
Early Chinese Mathematics
There were many great discoveries by early Chinese mathematicians. However, due to their writing materials and the fact that an emperor had all previous books destroyed at one point, few early documents survived. The Chinese used rods for number 1-9 and columns to represent place value. They only used the place value system with physical sticks and not in writing. The Chinese Remainder Theorem is still used in cryptology today. "The Nine Chapters" is the most famous surviving text in math. -
44 BCE
Julius Caesar Murdered
On March 15, 44 BCE (The Ides of March), Julius Caesar was murdered by a group of rebellious senators. (11) -
220
End of Han Dynasty in China
The Han Dynasty in China lasted from 206 BCE to 220 AD. After the Han Dynasty fell, this led to the Three Kingdoms era in China. (14) -
400
Establishment of Indian Place Value System
One of the most influential contributions from early Indian mathematicians was the establishment of a decimal place value system. They created a symbol (a dot or small circle) as a placeholder for an empty space in the system. This effectively created a symbol for the number zero (c. 9th century). Their number system also included decimals for place value. They also established the current symbols we used for the values 1-9. (9) -
415
Hypatia is Murdered
Hypatia was the daughter of another famous mathematician, Theon. She commented on mathematical works by her father and other mathematicians. She was also a famous teacher in Alexandria. At this time, it was not common for women to be prominent mathematicians. Unfortunately, her pagan beliefs led to her being murdered by the Archbishop Cyril. -
640
Brahmagupta Develops Properties of Zero
Brahmagupta was a famous Indian mathematician that developed properties of the number zero that are still taught today. -
762
Baghdad Becomes Center of Arab/Muslim Arts
Baghdad was established in 762, and shortly thereafter became the epicenter for Arab/Muslim arts. (15) -
800
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi Establishes Algebra
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, an Arabic mathematician from a location that is currently Uzbekistan, wrote a book called "al-jabr w'al muqabala." In this book, he wrote about moving from specific and concrete numbers to a more abstract and general way of thinking about things. This led to the idea of the area of Algebra. In fact, the title of his book "al-jabr" is the reason we call it Algebra today. -
860
Qusta ibn Luqa's Writings of the False Position to Solve Linear Equations
Qusta ibn Luqa was a mathematician that was born in present-day Lebanon and worked part of his life in present-day Baghdad. He wrote the oldest known account of the method of the double false proposition to solve a linear equation. (2) -
1000
Leif Erikson Discovers America
Leif Erikson becomes the first known European to discover America when he lands in present-day Canada around the year 1000. (16) -
1150
Bhaskara II Develops Negative Numbers
The Indian mathematician Bhaskara II continued the work of other Indian mathematicians to develop the concept of negative numbers. He viewed numbers as abstract concepts that didn't have to represent anything physical. -
1202
Leonardo of Pisa (Fibonacci) writes Liber Abbaci
Leonardo of Pisa (also referred to as Fibonacci) was an Italian mathematician who hugely influential in mathematics. He helped to convince Europe to move from using Roman Numerals to the Hindu-Arabic (0 - 9) place value system we use today. He also came up with the Fibonacci Sequence, which is a famous pattern that is found throughout nature. In addition, wrote about the idea of solving linear equations using the double false position, which he likely picked up traveling Northern Africa. (3) -
1350
Black Death (The Plague) Devastates Europe
The Black Death spread through Asia and Europe with its peak in Europe around 1350. It is estimated that between 75 and 200 million people died from the plague. -
1360
Nicole Oresme works with Independent and Dependent Variables
Nicole Oresme was a French mathematician. He studied the motion of moving objects and instantaneous velocity. He came up with a method of representing changing quantities that previews our method of graphing functions. -
1440
Gutenberg Invents Printing Press
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press around 1440. This was a monumental time in history because it allowed for the easier distribution of knowledge and information. (17) -
1492
Columbus Lands in America
Christopher Columbus lands in what is now the Bahamas in 1492. (18) -
Francois Viete Champions Algebra
Francois Viete was a French mathematician known as "the father of modern algebraic notation." He worked in cryptology and was the first to suggest using letters of the alphabet as placeholders for values in expressions or equations. At the time, Algebra was thought of as lesser mathematics than Geometry. Viete argued that Algebra was also an important area to study. This helped to link the subjects of Algebra and Geometry. -
Pierre de Fermat Plots Solutions
Pierre de Fermat was a French lawyer and amateur mathematician. Fermat made huge strides in developing a graphical way to represent relationships among quantities. This enabled a great deal of lines or curves to be created without having to construct them geometrically. This idea is a precursor to our modern coordinate plane and graphing system. Fermat also came up with a theorem that contributed to modern day credit card security. -
Rene Descartes Publishes La Geometrie
Rene Descartes was a famous French mathematician. He built off the ideas of Fermat and is credited with formally establishing a coordinate plane system (though it still didn't look exactly like the one we use today) in order to graphically represent the relationship between quantities. He also proposed certain notation we use today. He suggested that powers of variables as lengths rather than dimensions, which cleared some hurdles of the past. (4) -
Taj Mahal Complex Completed
The Taj Mahal (a mausoleum, mosque, and guest house) was completed in Agra in India. (19) -
Calculus is Established
Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz separately worked on the ideas of Calculus at roughly the same time. There was disagreement over who came up with the ideas first, but both mathematicians were very influential. Calculus, the mathematics of motion and change, dealt with speed and acceleration and finding instantaneous speed. Leibniz's notation is still used today. -
End of the American Revolutionary War
Lasting from 1775 to 1783, the war ended in the United States securing its independence from England. -
Gauss Establishes Complex Number System and Ponders Flatness
Carl Friedrich Gauss was a prominent German mathematician who developed the idea of the complex number system. This combined imaginary numbers with real numbers. Gauss also theorized about Euclidian Geometry and had an idea that nothing in the universe is truly flat. This meant that Euclidean Geometry was not as useful as before. -
Sophie Germain Wins Award for Work on Elasticity
Sophie Germain was a French mathematician who primarily studied elasticity and number theory. She was born on April 1, 1776 in Paris, France. Her work in elasticity eventually led to methods of construction of the Eiffel Tower. (21) -
Hilbert Lecture
David Hilbert was a German mathematician who delivered one of the most famous lectures in modern history in Paris in 1900. In his lecture, he proposed 23 unsolved problems that he thought would drive modern mathematics. Since then, some have been solved, but some still remain a puzzle to the world's greatest mathematicians today. -
Start of World War II
World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945 involving almost every major country. It was the deadliest conflict in human history. (20) -
Katherine Johnson Becomes First Woman Co-author of NASA Research Report
Katherine Johnson was a brilliant mathematician who made significant contributions to the NASA space program. As the space program progressed at NASA, Johnson completed analytics and calculating for the space program. In 1960, she became the first woman in the Flight Research Division to have her name listed as a co-author of a research report. In recognition of her outstanding career and breakthroughs, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. (22) -
Julia Robinson Elected President of American Mathematical Society
Julia Robinson, from St. Louis, MO, was a prominent mathematician in the middle of the 20th century. She was a professor at Berkely, and she was the first women elected to be president of the American Mathematical Society -
Maryam Mirzakhani First Woman to Win Fields Medal
Maryam Mirzakhani was an Iranian mathematician. She was the first and only woman to win the Fields Medal. This award is the highest honor in the field of mathematics.
